# Oregon HIV/Hepatitis and Opioid Prevention and Engagement (OR-HOPE) Study

> **NIH NIH UH3** · OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $1,287,430

## Abstract

Project Summary
The Oregon HIV/Hepatitis and Opioid Prevention and Engagement (OR-HOPE) study is a two-
phase (UG3 & UH3), multi-method study to implement community action teams and a peer rural
care coordinator intervention in rural Oregon counties at high risk for opioid overdose, hepatitis
C, and HIV. The study leverages existing and developing public health and treatment
infrastructure to implement a sustainable rural peer care coordinator (PCC) model. In Phase 1
(UG3), we develop community action teams that review and develop local community response
plans to address OUD and its consequences in 2 high-needs rural counties. Focus groups and
qualitative interviews with community stakeholders (primary care providers, public health
officials, law enforcement, and affected community members) document needs, resources, and
identify best practices for response plan implementation. We also assess the feasibility of a
PCC intervention to improve HIV, hepatitis C testing and linkage to care for people with OUD,
and sending confirmatory phlebotomy to CDC/GHOST lab. A concomitant telehealth
intervention supports primary care providers in treatment of patients with OUD and hepatitis C.
Phase 1 (UG3) milestones include: 1) development of community response plans, 2) enrollment
of primary care providers in telehealth support, 3) pilot implementation of PCC intervention, and
4) participant phlebotomy samples successfully sent to CDC/GHOST lab. In Phase 2, we scale-
up the PCC intervention to 8 rural counties to assess the effectiveness of PCCs in improving
HIV and hepatitis C testing, opioid overdose, and linkage to treatment for HIV, hepatitis C, and
opioid use disorder. The step-wedge implementation design includes counties not yet initiating
the intervention to serve as temporal controls. The primary outcome is 1) number of HIV tests
performed in intervention versus non-intervention counties. Secondary outcomes include a)
overdose rates, b) initiation of HIV treatment, c) initiation of HCV treatment, d) initiation of OUD
treatment, e) HIV viral suppression at one year, and f) hepatitis C sustained viral response.
Continued qualitative stakeholder interviews in Phase 2 document challenges and best
practices for PCC intervention and community response plan implementation. The results inform
development of novel and sustainable community intervention models to decrease OUD and its
consequences in rural America. The proposed work aligns with NIH Office of AIDS Research
priorities of expanding HIV testing and engagement in treatment, and treatment of HIV
comorbidities.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10241487
- **Project number:** 5UH3DA044831-05
- **Recipient organization:** OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Philip Todd Korthuis
- **Activity code:** UH3 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $1,287,430
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-15 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10241487

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10241487, Oregon HIV/Hepatitis and Opioid Prevention and Engagement (OR-HOPE) Study (5UH3DA044831-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10241487. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*